Home Video Review: 'Badlands'

When Kit (Martin Sheen) meets young Holly (Sissy Spacek), it's a match made in cinematic heaven. The pairing of the young couple in Badlands was the beginning of prolific careers for both actors.

The Criterion Collection

Listen

Listening...

/

Originally published on April 2, 2013 9:56 pm

Time now for a home viewing recommendation from our critic Bob Mondello. This week, Bob is intrigued by the 40th anniversary of the film that put Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek and director Terrence Malick on the map — Badlands.

The plot's based on a notorious duo and a real-life 1950s killing spree, but when boy meets girl on-screen in Badlands, they're adorable. She's 15, twirling a baton; he's older, styles himself after James Dean, and is the handsomest guy she's ever met.

A few days later these two have a lot on their minds, what with him having murdered her dad and swept her off on a cross-country trip where things go seriously sour.

At the height of the Vietnam War, Badlands was greeted in critical circles as a portrait of the American psyche short-circuiting, which is not to suggest it was universally liked. Among the disk's extras is an interview with a producer who remembers the comment cards they got at the first sneak, which Warner Bros. had unblinkingly set as a double feature with its then-current hit, Blazing Saddles.

"Not surprisingly," he remembers, "the cards were the worst in the history of Warner Bros. They were just dreadful."

Because director Terrence Malick is famously tight-lipped about his work, it's no surprise that he does no commentary or interviews here. But he did approve Criterion's digital cleanup for Blu-ray. And Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek sat down to reminisce — Sheen, who cranked out 20 TV roles in 1973, about how he very nearly turned this movie down, but then relented.

"Suddenly it hit me," Sheen says, remember the morning after he'd said yes to Malick. "I was gonna play the part of my life. And I wept. Because I knew someone had finally seen something in me that I knew was there, but I couldn't get anyone else to see."

They saw it thereafter — in Spacek, too, and in Malick — all kids for whom Badlands opened vistas wide.

Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Finally, this hour, another home viewing recommendation from our movie critic, Bob Mondello. This week, Bob is intrigued by a new 40th anniversary release of the film that put Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek and director Terrence Malick on the map, "Badlands."

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: The plot is based on a notorious duo and a real-life 1950s killing spree. But when boy meets girl on-screen in, they're adorable. She's 15, twirling a baton; he's older, styles himself after James Dean, and is the handsomest guy she's ever met.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "BADLANDS")

MONDELLO: A few days later, these two have a lot on their minds, what with him having murdered her dad and swept her off on a cross-country trip where things go seriously sour.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "BADLANDS")

MONDELLO: At the height of the Vietnam War, "Badlands" was greeted in critical circles as a portrait of the American psyche short-circuiting, which is not to suggest it was universally liked. Among the DVD extras is an interview with a producer who remembers the comment cards they got at the first sneak.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Warner's previewed the film, a double-bill, with "Blazing Saddles." Not surprisingly, the cards were the worst in the history of Warner Brothers. They were just dreadful.

MONDELLO: Because director Terrence Malick is famously tight-lipped about his work, it's no surprise that he does no commentary or interviews here. But he did approve Criterion's digital cleanup for Blu-ray. And Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek sat down to reminisce. Sheen, who cranked out 20 TV roles in 1973, about how he very nearly turned this movie down, but then relented.

: I was driving along Pacific Coast highway, it must have been about 5 o'clock in the morning and I was playing Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row," and suddenly it hit me, I was goingt to play the part of my life. And I wept, because I knew someone had finally seen something in me that I knew was there, but I couldn't get anyone else to see.

MONDELLO: They saw it thereafter, in Spacek, too, and Malick, all kids for whom "Badlands" in 1973 opened vistas wide. I'm Bob Mondello.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

You're listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.